A day after Punjab Assembly passed a bill to settle non-institutional farm debt, a section of 'arthiyas' (local money lenders) today alleged that it was aimed to "divert" public attention from the "anti-government" wave in the state.
"Farmers never sought that a law be made on settlement of debt. It was brought only to divert people's attention from the current anti-government wave," Federation of Arthiyas Association of Punjab, President, Vijay Kalra alleged.
To bring farmers out of debt, the need of the hour is to increase their income by implementing Swaminathan Commission report, as promised by BJP, he said.
"If the law is implemented, it can create a divide between farmers and arthiyas," he said, adding, they have been lending to the farmers for marriages, children's education etc.
Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness Bill, 2016 was passed in the Assembly yesterday to put in place a mechanism to regulate and settle non-institutional farm loans from the arthiyas.
Under this bill, if a farmer has paid double the principal amount, the loan can be discharged. It also stipulates establishment of district-level forums for debt settlement and state-level agricultural debt settlement tribunal. Also, the state government shall fix the maximum rate to be charged by arthiyas from farmers per annum.
Notably, rural debt in Punjab is estimated at over Rs 35,000 crore and this has been one of the reasons behind farmers' suicides in the state.
Kalra said arthiyas strongly object to fixation of the maximum rate of interest to be charged by them from farmers.
"How can other person fix rate of interest on my money," he asked and reasoned that arthiyas take loan from banks at 13-14 per cent interest and then lend it to the farmers.
Condemning the move to form tribunals and forums for debt settlement Kalra said, "We have courts which can take care of any dispute then why these forums or tribunals."
He claimed banks would "shy away" from lending money to farmers if arthiyas stop lending. "There is a strong resentment among arthiyas about the bill and we shall soon announce our course of action once we have gone through the notification of the law," he said.
